Star Sparkle Blog

Last year I did a Best Of 2016 post listing my favourite posts on the blog from that year. You can read it here:  http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/best-of-2016.html Now it's time for 2017's Best Of post! :) Music  Asian I did a post on different types of Asian music in Feb: https://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/asian-music-k-pop-j-pop-and-beyond.html African Also did an African music feature in October:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/african-music.html C-pop There wasn't much C-pop this year (I'd like to listen to more in 2018) but there were a couple of Weekly Music Videos: EXO- Ko Ko Bop (Korean and Chinese):  https://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/weekly-music-video_16.html Jackson Wang from GOT7 (English and Chinese, I think): https://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/weekly-music-video_29.html Eurovision I did Eurovision posts in 2017, a round-up and a new one: https://starsparklex.blogspot.co...

Hope everybody had a good Christmas! (Or if you celebrated something else I hope you had a good festival and/or weekend)! :) Today's video is One Song Away by Pia Mia . it's from her 2nd EP/mixtape The Gift 2 which was released on 15th December. The first single from it is Off My Feet which came out on 1st December. I have The Gift (Pia released it online for free  as well as on iTunes) and I bought this song and a couple of others just before Christmas. You can buy The Gift 2 on iTunes and Amazon. One Song Away is actually an audio but if there's a video in future I'll update this post. :) More Pia? Go here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/weekly-music-video_28.html https://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/weekly-music-video_9.html P.S. Stay tuned for a Best of 2017 post, the follow up to last year's for 2016 . :)

Last year I did a Christmas round-up post which you can read here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/12/christmas-round-up.html  Now Christmas is here again, so here's a new festive themed post! Music These are my most recent Christmas music video posts: Lindsey Stirling's Carol of the Bells:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/12/weekly-music-video_13.html   K-pop Christmas!: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/12/k-pop-christmas.html Ariana Grande's Wit It This Christmas: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/12/weekly-music-video_20.html Also check out more songs from Ariana's Christmas & Chill EP: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/12/ariana-grande-christmas-songs.html Here Mariah Carey's single Oh Santa! from 2010: And the video for The Star, from the new animated film of the same name: Also I found a K-pop themed Christmas playlist on YouTube. (I've added it to the K-pop Christmas post). Listen here: ht...

It's Christmas next week so today's video is another festive themed one! Here's Wit It This Christmas by Ariana Grande . It wasn't released as a single, so this is an audio, not an actual music video. You can find it on Ariana's 2015 EP Christmas & Chill. I got it for Christmas last year. Listen to more songs from Christmas & Chill here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/12/ariana-grande-christmas-songs.html And here's last week festive music vid (Lindsey Stirling's Carol of the Bells:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/12/weekly-music-video_13.html

Back in 2015 I had a Bollywood Boxing Day , now here is K-pop Christmas! These are the K-pop posts from this year. :) First of all these are 2017's K-pop Weekly Music Videos: K.A.R.D- Don't Recall: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/02/weekly-music-video_22.html K.A.R.D- RUMOR:  http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/weekly-music-video.html Ten (NCT/NCT-U)- Dream in a Dream: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/05/weekly-music-video_31.html EXO: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/08/weekly-music-video_16.html MONSTA X- SHINE FOREVER: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/09/weekly-music-video_27.html Kris Wu (former EXO)- Deserve: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/10/weekly-music-video_18.html (Video removed) Jackson Wang ( GOT7 member)- OKAY: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/11/weekly-music-video_29.html I featured two Korean EP releases this year: Chung Ha (former member of now disbanded girl group I.O.I )'s debut EP...

It's less than 2 weeks till Christmas! It always seem far away and then it comes round quickly. (At least for me, lol). Here's a Christmas themed video- Carol of the Bells by Lindsey Stirling . It's from her new Christmas album Winter Warmer which is out now. Some nice dancing in the video as well. :) Lindsey fan? Check out these links: Crystallize: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/10/weekly-music-video_93.html Mirage:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/11/weekly-music-video_8.html Also click on the link on her name (above) to see the video for Elements.  

British singer Delilah is back! (I was just wondering recently if she'd have anything out soon). She has a new song called Touch Me which is available for free download from her website.  Visit her Instagram page for download info: https://www.instagram.com/delilahofficial/ It's been ages since Delilah released new music, in fact her debut album From The Roots Up came out in 2012!  She featured on R I T U A L's Too Deep song in October 2015 but I'm not sure if there's been much since then. She's currently working on a new album, so I'm looking forward to hearing that when it's ready. :) For more Delilah check out these links: Breathe music video: http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/weeky-music-video.html I Can Feel You RAK session (live performance):  http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/weekly-music-video_27.html Inside My Love video: http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/weekly-music-video_19.html   Go vid:  http://stars...

Today's video is Asalaam-e-Ishqum from the Bollywood film Gunday (2014). I featured another video from Gunday at the beginning of the year, you can watch it and read more about the film here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/01/weekly-music-video.html This is a scene where cabaret dancer Nandita (played by Priyanka Chopra ) is performing. The playback singers are Neha Bhasin and Bappi Lahiri .

Last year I did a post on my Top 10 Christina Aguilera songs . She's one of my favourite singers along with Britney Spears . Now here are my Top 10 Britney songs. :) I've also just realised it's her birthday today, so Happy Birthday Britney! :) 1. ...Baby One More Time Classic Britney! ...Baby One More Time was her debut single which was released in 1998 in the US and early 1999 in the UK (I got it for a birthday present in March). It's one of her most well known and successful singles and is from the debut album of the same name (released in 1999).

This week's video is OKAY by Jackson Wang . He is a member of Korean boyband GOT7 (technically Korean/international boyband since there are several members from other countries, but they sing in Korean and Japanese). In my recent post on new K-pop releases I mentioned that he was currently taking a break from the group due to health issues. He was also not able to attend some promotions at the end of October due to the death of his grandad . Jackson is from Hong Kong and is set to release a solo album in China. He is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, Shanghainese, English, Korean and Japanese (wow!). He brought out his debut English single Papillion on 26th August, followed by Novoland: The Castle in the Sky, which is the theme song for a mobile game of the same name. Jackson attended the recent MTV Europe Music Awards. OKAY is his latest single. He's singing in English and Chinese. The video premiered today.

I've done round-up posts for music and TV (see below) and today I'm doing a round-up of all the dance themed posts on the blog. Some posts are listed are a couple of times if they fit under different headings. :) Belly Dance Bellydance Superstars (BDSS): Bellydance Superstats video: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2011/09/bellydance-superstars-video.html Jillina performance https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2011/11/jillina-performance.html Rania performance: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2011/11/rania-performance.html Another Jillina performance: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2011/12/another-jillina-performance.html Sonia performance: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2012/01/sonia-performance.html Ansuya performance: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2013/11/ansuya-peformance.html   Various: Belly Dance Videos: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/07/belly-dance-videos.html Dance Videos: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/11/dance-videos....

Today's video is Skintight by Mr Eazi featuring Efya . Mr Eazi (real name Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade) is a Nigerian singer who moved to Ghana in 2008 and founded Banku Music which is a mixture of Ghanaian and Nigerian music. He released his debut mixtape About to Blow in July 2013 and his second Life Is Eazi, Vol 1- Accra to Lagos in February this year. His most well known singles are probably Skintight and Leg Over. Skintight came out in summer 2015. The featured singer Efya is from Ghana and the lyrics include Ghanaian pidgin English . I saw the video for this a few weeks ago on an African music programme. For more on Mr Eazi visit his site: www.mreazi.com

Swedish/British singer Mabel released her debut mixtape  Ivy To Roses last month. I first listened to it a few weeks ago and included it in my last New Music/Videos post . I planned to do a specific post about the mixtape but hadn't got round to it yet, lol. So here it is now! Ivy to Roses consists of 9 songs-Come Over, Begging, Finders Keepers feat. Kojo Funds , Ivy, Low Key, Roses, Weapon, Passionfruit (a cover of Canadian rapper/singer Drake's song) and Finders Keepers Remix featuring Kojo Funds, Burna Boy and Don E . My favourite songs are Finders Keepers, Begging and Low Key. I already had Finders Keepers on Mabel's EP Bedroom (see below) and I recently bought the other two songs. I also like Come Over, Roses and Weapon. Passionfruit has a nice vibe as well. I tried finding the original one but on YouTube it just seems to bring up someone else's cover! I didn't like that many songs the first time I heard  Ivy to Roses, but I like more when I've list...

This is Jennifer Lopez's new single Amor, Amor, Amor (Love, Love, Love in Spanish) featuring Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Wisin . It's completely in Spanish and as you can tell it's about love! I may have a go translating this fully in the future but I think the chorus goes something like this (partly used Google Translate!): Cuando hacemos el amor When we make love Amor, amor, amor Love, love, love Vuelvo a la vida, siento que vuelo I come to life, feel that flight Cuando hacemos el amor When we make love Amor, amor, amor Love, love, love Vuelvo a la vida cuando toco tu cuerpo I come to life when I touch your body Amor, Amor, Amor is the second single from Jennifer's upcoming Spanish language Por Primera Vez (For The First Time) and it was released on on 10th November. I think it's digital release only. No word on an album release date yet but I'll keep an eye out! :) J.Lo fan? Check out these links: http://starsparklex.blogsp...

It's been a while I last did a post on new K-pop releases; it was back in April in fact! So it's time for a new one. :)  (Plus one J-pop release!). You can read the last post here: http://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/04/new-k-pop-releases.html GOT7- TURN UP GOT7 have a new single TURN UP.  It's from their upcoming Japanese language mini album of the same name which is due for release on 15th November. Member Jackson is currently taking a break from the group due to health issues.

Today's video is Mirage by Lindsey Stirling featuring Raja Kumari . The song/piece of music has an Indian fusion type vibe and it's from Lindsey's 3rd album Brave Enough. The Mirage video was uploaded to YouTube on 11th October but I don't think it's actually a single. Lindsey also released a Christmas album on 20th October called Warmer in the Winter. Check out another Lindsey video here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/10/weekly-music-video_93.html

Latest music and videos I've been listening to and watching. :) Lee Gi Kwang- What You Like (K-pop) BTS- DNA (K-pop) Stefflon Don and French Montana- Hurtin' Me Demi Lovato- Sorry Not Sorry (It was released in July but I've been watching it more recently). Era Istrefi feat. French Montana- No I Love Yous PRETTYMUCH- Would You Mind Paloma Faith- Crybaby CNCO, Little Mix-  Reggateon Lento (Remix) Mabel's Ivy to Roses mixtape Listen here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK_AgtjK7R4&list=PLLPMESCK_QHbgHUWQAuJYZGSWcdKPqm0i K-pop GOT7 - You Are PENTAGON- Like This SF9- O Sole Mio  (SEVENTEEN) SVT HIPHOP TEAM- TRAUMA TWICE - LIKEY TRCNG- Spectrum (live on Simply K-pop) Jang Mi- Follow Me (live on Simply K-pop) JBJ- Fantasy (live) RAINZ- Juliette (live) UP10TION- Going Crazy (live) Mr Eazi feat. Efya- Skintight (Nigerian/Ghanaian) (New to me). Tiwa Savage feat. Wizkid and Spellz- Malo (Nigerian) (video) Camila Cabello (former Fi...

This week's video is Tadap Tadap from the 2007 Bollywood film Darling . I mentioned it in my More Hallowe'en Films + TV post on Friday. The video features Aditya (Adit) (played by Fardeen Khan ) and his secretary Geeta ( Esha Deol , half sister of Bobby and Sunny Deol ) who he's having an affair with.  She haunts him after he accidentally kills her! The playback singers are Himesh Reshammiya and Tulsi Kumar . For another song from Darling visit this post: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2013/06/j-pop-vs-bollywood.html And if you're a Himesh fan then check out these posts for more songs which feature his singing: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/09/girls-vs-boys-bollywood.html https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2015/12/emraan-hashmi-songs.html

Hallowe'en is coming up again! So in honour of that, here's a spooky themed post. :) Last year I did a Hallowe'en faves and round-up post, you can read that here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/10/halloween-faves-round-up.html Two years ago I posted about Hallowe'en films, you can find that in the round-up post or here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2015/10/halloween-films.html So today I thought I'd do a follow post on more scary films. As with last year I've tried to avoid spoilers but there are a couple. Unless otherwise stated all video clips are trailers. :) The Disappeared (2008) This is a British horror about teenage boy Matthew (played by Harry Treadaway , twin of Luke ) who has recently returned home from a mental hospital. He suffered a breakdown after the disappearance of his little brother Tom, who is believed to be dead. Matthew tries to piece his life back together and heal his relationship with his dad ( Greg Wise ) but he ...

Today's video is for Evanescence's new single Imperfection. It was released this month and is from their new album Synthesis, which is due out on 10th November. It's been quite a while since Evanescence have released anything. They went on hiatus in late 2012 and then had problems with their record label. Their last album was Evanescence in 2011. Synthesis will be the band's 4th studio album. Please note that the song contains some explicit lyrics. (Just one line but thought I'd should mention it). :) Check out another Evanescence video here: http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/weekly-music-video_9.html

Sorry this weekend's post is later; I started it yesterday but got behind with things. :) Last year I did two world music round-up posts. This is an update about the more recent world music posts I've done. I haven't listed it all by country this time, just under different genres. So if you're a fan of music from different countries around the world then you should enjoy it. :) Here are the original two posts from summer 2016: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/06/world-music-round-up-africa-and-asia.html https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/07/world-music-round-up-america-canada.html Albanian https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/09/albanian-music.html Era Istrefi: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/10/weekly-music-video_12.html https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/03/weekly-music-video.html Nora Istrefi and Robert Berisha:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/08/weekly-music-video_2.html

Today's video is Deserve by Chinese Canadian singer Kris Wu featuring American rapper Travis Scott . Kris was a member of Korean/Chinese boyband EXO  before going solo. I think this is his 4th English language single. Deserve was released this month and reached No. 1 on the American iTunes chart.   Update 17/12/22: Most of Kris' videos have now been removed due to his recent prison conviction for sex crimes.

I've done quite a few posts about Asian music (mainly J-pop and K-pop ) and also Turkish , so today I'm featuring some African artists. :) Tiwa Savage First up here are a couple of songs from Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage . This is All Over which was released in May.

Today's video is No I Love Yous by Kosovar (Kosovan Albanian) singer Era Istrefi and featuring Moroccan/American rapper French Montana . It's sung in English (Era's first language is Gheg Albanian ) and was released on 29th September. Istrefi sisters fan? (Era's big sister Nora is also a singer). Check out these posts: Both sisters are featured: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/09/albanian-music.html Era: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/10/weekly-music-video_12.html Era: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/03/weekly-music-video.html Nora (and her husband Robert Berisha): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/08/weekly-music-video_2.html

Koda Kumi has a new video for single HUSH. It's her 61st (!) single and is from her latest album W FACE ~inside/W FACE ~outside. W FACE is Koda's 13th studio album and her first double album release.* HUSH is part of Kumi's 2017 trilogy of single releases (reminds me of JoJo's Tringle ) and is the second release. The first was LIT this summer (see below) and the third is scheduled to come out in December. They only had limited physical releases at venues for Koda's ~W FACE~ live tour and through her fan club and was sold online on the music site mu mo. HUSH came out on 4th October. This is a full length video which is good.  Avex (her record company) don't always upload full ones.

BANKS has a new single out called Underdog. I recently bought it on iTunes . It's a good song, more R'n'B than some of her recent ones, I think. It has been described as electropop but it sounds to me like it's got an R'n'B beat as well. She growls on it, which is interesting (because she's signing about an underdog, I presume)! Underdog isn't from her latest album The Altar (released a year ago), it's a stand alone single. There isn't a video, just an audio but I'll update if there's a video in future. :) It came out on 28th September. BANKS fan? Check out these posts: http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/new-banks-album.html http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/weekly-music-video.html

So Sharp: Dance Squad is an American reality TV series about the University of Louisville Ladybird Dance Team run by Todd Sharp. It's set in Louisville, Kentucky. As you'll know if you follow this blog, I'm a fan of dance reality shows such as Dance Moms and Bring It! So I was interested when So Sharp started in the UK a few weeks ago. Todd is head coach along with Sheryl Knight, a former Ladybird herself. Todd has also coached the Floyd Central Dazzlers. The team have won 15 national championships so far. As with the other dance reality shows, there's a lot of drama! Marissa Hall is close to Todd and describes him as like a father to her. She is considered one of the best dancers and her close relationship with Todd rubs some people up the wrong way, particularly Michelle Carpenter. Rose Crombie is one of Marissa's main rivals but according to the Decidr article about the team (see below) they're close. Gabrielle Iannone struggles sometimes with the chore...

Today's video is SHINE FOREVER by Korean boyband MONSTA X . It was released in June and is from the group's debut album which originally came out in March as The Clan Pt. 2.5: The Final Chapter, and was then re-released in June as SHINE FOREVER. I think on Pops in Seoul they said that it's a love song. :)  You can watch MONSTA X's dance practise for this song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh4qF6bIVnI MONSTA X fan? Check out this post for another of their videos :  https://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/new-k-pop-releases.html

Since my belly dance classes recently started again after a break over the summer and I'm also going to the belly dance event South Coast Shimmy tonight, I thought I'd post a round-up of Turkish and Arabic songs, plus a couple of songs I haven't mentioned before. :) Turkish Arman:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2013/08/weekly-music-video_28.html Atiye (also features Kenan Dogulu): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2015/04/girls-vs-boys-turkish.html Davut Gulogu: https://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/weekly-music-video.html https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2012/11/weekly-musi-video.html Gökhan Türkmen: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/08/weekly-music-video_27.html Hadise: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/08/weekly-music-video_7.html https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2015/07/weekly-music-video.html Hadise and Davut Gulogu: https://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/girls-vs-boys-turkish.html Kenan Doğulu (see Atiye ...

This week's video is Find You, the latest single by Nick Jonas . As with his last single Remember I Told You , it's not from his latest album Last Year Was Complicated (released in 2016). Nick has said that the song is about the journey of finding love. Find You came out on 14th September. It's a nice, chilled out song that goes more "dancey" on the chorus.

As I've mentioned before, quite a few Bollywood films are based on Hollywood ones. (And sometimes films from other countries as well). So for this post I'm featuring a couple of Bollywood films and the Hollywood movies they were based on. This post contains spoilers. :) Aitraaz/Disclosure Aitraaz (2004) is the film that inspired this post! The Bollywood film channel B4U Movies is free to air at the moment and I watched Aitraaz last night. I first saw it years ago (rented it on video from the library!). It's a remake of the 1994 film Disclosure starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore , and since I have Disclosure saved on my Sky planner, I watched it again last night as well! Aitraaz (which translates as "Objection") is also based on the real life case of American basketball player Kobe Bryant . The film is about businessman Raj Malhotra ( Akshay Kumar ) who works for a mobile phone company. He is happily married to Priya ( Kareena Kapoor ) and they are...

Today's video (or audio) is I Got Time by Bebe Rexha . It's from her new EP All Your Fault: Pt. 2. I have her first EP All Your Fault: Pt. 1 which came out in February. I don't like Pt. 2 as much but I like some songs and I Got Time is my favourite. :) I recently bought it on iTunes . All Your Fault: Pt. 2 was released last month. Please note that the song is explicit. :) Listen to songs from Pt. 1 (Bebe's debut EP) here: http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/new-bebe-rexha-ep.html